Kelly Parker's home covered with graffiti in Detroit. (Credit: WJBK)
DETROIT (WJBK) -
A single mother from Detroit is battling two different cancers and now she's also in a fight to keep her home. After getting behind on taxes, the house is on the auction block.
It's pretty hard to miss Kelly Parker's house on the city's west side. It's covered with graffiti and it was done on purpose to try and keep potential buyers at bay.
"The city decided that they were putting it up on auction, so I made it to the point where nobody would want me to buy it," said Parker.
Life has dealt the mother of two some pretty rough blows. She has stacks of paperwork documenting her struggle. She lost her job, suffers from Crohn's disease and is now in the fight of her life.
"Three weeks ago, I was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer and it's to the point where they want to do brain surgery tomorrow, and I just found all this out. So them trying to evict me out of my house and sell my house, I'm not going anywhere."
When she bought the home in 2005, the small, tidy two bedroom bungalow was Parker's dream home. A place to raise a family. Then her mortgage doubled and she fell behind. The home went into foreclosure. She owes about $12,000 dollars in back taxes.
She was hoping her disability checks would kick in with enough time to save the place, not for her, but for her sons.
"According to doctors, I don't have much time, so at least my kids will have a house."
"She's really sick, and she's a good mom and a good neighbor," said Tina McNally. "So we want her here."
Instead of complaining about the eyesore, neighbors are supporting Parker's effort to stay. They even contacted the Problem Solvers.
"When I read that sign on Sunday and it broke my heart, I had to start doing something," McNally said.
Plastering her life story in front of her house and spray painting her home with words of warning may not fix Parker's situation, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
"I'm totally for what she has to do to get a word out there for help," said son Kevin Gerhard.
"This is our house and we're not leaving. I mean, good luck because you're not going to get it," said Parker.
She is still working with her doctors to come up with a plan to treat her cancer. Meanwhile, her neighbors are trying to shine a light on her story. They've started a Facebook page called "Help Kelly Parker".
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Kelly Parker's home covered with graffiti in Detroit. (Credit: WJBK)
